Everybody Wants to Rule the World
by Rose Evanescent
Summary: Obsessed with gaining power he believes is rightfully his, Hans kidnaps Queen Elsa as his hostage on the sea. Little does he know, The Ice Queen is stronger than he thought. Even more surprising are the things Elsa and Hans have in common. Together, they set off, each with their distinct powers of ice and fire, to rule a new kingdom...and eventually the world.


HANS

Wood cracked against the side of Hans' head as he was tossed into the cage on lower deck of the ship back to the Southern Isles. His green eyes snapped to the forms of Anna and Kristoff, hazy and dark against the bright-blue, midday sky. Lithe and graceful, Elsa's slender form stepped into his vision. For a moment, her face seemed to block out the sun.

"Nothing_ personal_," Elsa had murmured, just low enough for Hans to hear – her eyes glowed an icy blue. It took all strength in his body not to lose control. Hans just grit his teeth, practiced, forced himself to look pitiful, and watched them waltz away. Spit from one of the guards caught him on his cheek, but Hans just sat. Sat and waited.

That was Hans' life. It seemed to follow that certain pattern of sitting and waiting.

Waiting.

_Waiting. _

Soon the sun trailed lower in the sky, and Hans felt a faint scraping in his stomach. Thankfully, he could ignore hunger quite well. He focused instead on the many blessings the _fools_ of Arendelle had bestowed upon him. Gloves on his hands, wrists free of manacles, a sizeable cell. Most of all, Hans rejoiced in the superstition of the sea captain that they could not leave the fjord until sunrise. The deaths of Anna and Elsa's parents on the sea occurred in the dark of night, spooking sailors of night storms. This sad tradition brought the shade of a smile to the edges of Hans' lips.

Common men were frightened of storms. _Hans_ was no common man.

Finally, as the sun brimmed the horizon with color, lighting up the sky with blazing golds, pinks, reds, and purples, the guards got lazy. They held the false belief Hans was fastened in his cage, like some daft animal. Slapping each others' backs, the men of the ship went into the city, to an inn; they were to drink and eat a good hearty supper before the long trip to the Southern Isles. Hans calculated silently they would stay in the inn's lodgings for the night, as fluffy featherbeds were preferable to the wooden cots of the ship. Before they left, Hans feigned sleep to secure the belief he was nothing more than a scrap of harmless cargo.

Suckers, all of them. They would sleep well, alright.

Salt water slopped lazily against the side of the boat as Hans sat up on the bench in his cage, the memory of those icy blue eyes burning through his brain into the dusk sky above. Night drew its black covers across the heavens, spattering the velvety blackness with stars. Hans felt the shadows stretch their inky lengths across it all, and smirked as his face dissolved into the blackness. It was time.

Pulling off his gloves carefully, Hans exhaled in relief. Too long he'd kept it under control, hid it from view. Now he knew what he wanted – those icy blue eyes. So he would have them.

Snapping his thumb and middle finger together, Hans watched the spark start and ignite his whole hand on fire. Flames licked and played against his skin but did not harm him. Chuckling, he played with the tongues of fire between his fingers. The Southern Isles were not his kingdom. Neither was Arendelle. But he'd found someone here vital to his quest. He needed her. Soon, Hans would have her. This piece to his puzzle would be one step closer to ultimate control.

Bringing his fiery palm underneath the lock to his cage, Hans watched the metal melt away. The door swung open on rusty hinges. Too easy.

Standing and walking out silently onto the deck, Hans eyed the harbor full of ships. He clutched his fist, extinguishing the fire with ease, and looked up to the city, where candle lights were being snuffed out in every window. Arendelle would sleep peacefully tonight.

Hans' green eyes moved up to the castle. In Anna and Elsa's absence, Hans had studied every corner of the place, memorized each room and entryway. Life's shortcomings hit him hard, but Hans' attention to detail would make up for all that tonight.

Hans had one night to do it.

After a breath, he disappeared into the shadows to the castle.

ELSA

Homecomings were sweet to Elsa. After a night of dancing, singing, and ice-skating in the courtyard Elsa herself had transformed into an icy pond, the citizens of Arendelle were invited to the return feast in the grand Banquet Hall. Fat sausages sizzled over fires with garlic and pepper, and venison crusted in herbs was brought out on huge silver platters. There were sweetgrass salads and trout, fresh from the river, with flaky white flesh. Mashed potatoes and fresh-baked bread accompanied the meal, along with iced cinnamon rolls and lemon cakes. Olaf made a brief cameo in the feast to steal away a plate of cookies. Truly, Elsa had never seen anyone eat so much as Anna until Kristoff came along. He ate like a pig. But she liked him anyways.

After the feast, all the citizens went home, their bellies full and spirits content. Anna urged all the people to take as many scraps as they desired to help the servants clean out the banquet hall. Elsa retired to the parlor of the castle, laying out on the chaise lounge to ease her aching temples. All this celebration was a welcome note to her desolate situation, but still the sounds and light plagued her. Adjusting back to life as a leader would be hard. Ringing for a servant, Elsa told her Anna and Kristoff were required to meet her in the parlor soon as possible and called for hot drinks.

It was Anna who first arrived.

"Wow! Elsa, that feast was out of this world!" her sister giggled, bursting in the room, her ginger hair mussed and half-out of its braid. "I don't think I could ever eat another bite! Why thank you, Dorothy, I think I will take a hot apple cider!" Sipping her beverage, Anna seemed to settle a bit and sat next to Elsa. "I'm so proud of you, Elsa. For everything. I'm so glad you're back."

Elsa accepted Anna's words and gave her a gentle hug. "Let's not talk about all that now, alright, Anna? I – I just have a little headache, and I need to discuss the future with the two of you. It's very important."

Kristoff entered, leaving his mud-clotted boots outside the room so as not to track filth onto the floor. "Sorry! Just got Sven all situated in the royal stables. Man, it is nice here! He got to eat all the carrots he could dream of." Accepting a hot chocolate from Dorothy, Kristoff sat in a chair across from Elsa and Anna. He slurped at a few stray marshmallows. Handing Elsa her brew of hot mint tea, Dorothy exited the room and shut the door, opening the conversation.

"I need a successor," blurted Elsa, tiredness failing to blur the edges of urgency with which she spoke.

Anna sputtered in her hot cider, nearly burning her tongue. "What?! Elsa, please don't - "

"Don't baby me, Anna," Elsa said, slower, more manner-of-factly. "This whole…ride we've been on has reminded me of my responsibility to this kingdom. It has also shown me how easily this kingdom can fall into the hands of a villain. We need security for the citizens of Arendelle."

"Your _Highness_," Kristoff began.

"Understand I am doing this as a precaution," Elsa went on. "Mother and Father knew the importance of this kingdom. Anna, you and I have a duty to the people of Arendelle. If I ever…_do_ anything again, someone must rule in my place and take care of them. Anna, you must be my successor."

Shaking her head, Anna countered, "Elsa, you just got _back_! Can't you go one day without worrying like this? Just relax a day or two before…"

Elsa put ice in her voice. "Do not argue with me. I make you successor to the throne. If ever I am absent, you will rule for me."

"Your Highness, how do I fit into this?" Kristoff asked.

"You are here to witness my passing of succession. Also, I know you, Kristoff, have a fair level head. Anna possesses the kindness and amiability I never knew, and you have the judgment of a king. You will be a Councilor to her. Between the two of you, you will learn how to rule a kingdom."

It seemed like Elsa had sucked the merriment out of the evening to Anna, so it reasonably irked her. "Elsa, is all you ever think about succession and responsibility and dreary things like work? You _never_ have a bit of fun in you!"

"You would not either if you had to begin ruling a kingdom at the age of eight and ten, Anna!" barked Elsa suddenly, her eyes flaring sapphire. "You were never cursed from birth as I was, never rejected and hunted as a monster! I have an obligation to Mother and Father that I would take care of the kingdom they gave me. I will fulfill this obligation. My hard work is what allows you to run and play, and allows the citizens of Arendelle to live full, happy lives. One day you'll understand the weight of what I feel."

During Elsa's rant, the room waxed cold, but as she finished, the warmth from the fireplace filled the habitation once again. Awkwardly, Kristoff stirred his hot chocolate, clinking his spoon against the cup. Elsa, looking down, saw she had frozen over the surface of her hot mint tea, and her heart sunk.

Softly, an arm wrapped around Elsa's narrow shoulders. "I'm sorry, sister," Anna whispered. "I will obey you as you wish. Hopefully that day when I succeed you will not come soon, but when it does…Kristoff and I will be ready."

"Yes, we will, Your Majesty," Kristoff nodded eagerly, giving a comforting grin.

Elsa breathed slowly to gather her thoughts. "So it is settled. It is a weight off my shoulders. Thank you, Anna – and you, Kristoff." The Ice Queen stood, dress shimmering blue and translucent whites. "I will go on to bed now, and I recommend you two do so as well. Anna, you are to stay in your old room – Kristoff, you'll ask the servants to assist you in making your bed in the parlor here. I thank you both for your time…and all you've done."

Without a hiccup of hesitation, Anna embraced Elsa in a crushing bear-hug that heartily surprised the Queen. For once in her life, Elsa wanted to hug back, and so she did, taking in Anna's heady scent of apples and summer. After this, Kristoff bowed and kissed Elsa's hand, and she knew she approved of him as a husband for her sister. There had been something queer about the way Hans spoke to Elsa, but the way Kristoff behaved spoke volumes of honesty and genuine kindness.

Once the two were gone, Elsa went down the hallway into her room and shut the door behind her, absorbing her surroundings once more. Her room was her private sanctuary, the only place she could escape the woes of the real world. Here, Elsa stripped out of her lovely ice dress and set her body free of its confines. In its place, she donned a light white cotton nightgown, patterned with pretty blue ice-flowers. The feel of hardwood secure under her feet soothed Elsa as she undid her braid and let her silver-white hair hang loose about her shoulders.

Finally, the Queen wrapped herself in a dark purple nightrobe for extra comfort and slid into bed under the sheets and then the thick downy quilt. Too much time had passed since the Queen could unwind nearly completely in her own castle, and she thoroughly enjoyed the sensation. She was so tired. The bed made her blissfully sleepy. Smiling quietly, Elsa realized the sheets had been in a lavender-vanilla wash, and it soothed her all the more.

Tossing and turning, Elsa eventually ended up facing the window and watched the ripe full moon to help her get to sleep. She loved how the moon silvered all its light touched, much like how she turned things to ice. Elsa was close now, so close to sleep her eyes closed just long enough for a shadowy figure so open the window and sneak in unnoticed…

Blinding pain shot through the back of Elsa's head, and red stars danced before her eyes before she fell into unconsciousness. Even in her sleep, Elsa felt herself lifted and jostled about, as if someone were taking her somewhere. She wished terribly hard she could open her eyes.

After a while of jostling, the ground fell out from Elsa, and she felt as if she were falling. As wood cracked against her head in the cell, her eyes shot open. There stood Hans, tying the cage door of the ship closed since it seemed the lock melted into a useless clump of metal. A cloth rag pulled against the sides of Elsa's mouth, completely muffling her sudden cries.

Confused and enraged, the Ice Queen willed herself to blast the evil prince, but her powers would not work for some reason. She looked down at her hands. They were bound in replicas of the manacles in the castle, only these just went around her wrists. But they glowed with bright gold glyphs, some sort of magic brand. Attempting to freeze Hans shot a burning agony up Elsa's arms. The Ice Queen was completely helpless.

"Oh, no, no, don't waste your energy trying to _ice_ me, Your Highness," Hans sneered, a scrap of ginger hair falling into his face. "You're mine now. Easy to get, weren't you? Someone's a little…_careless_."

Elsa, stung and terrified, writhed against her bonds, teeth grinding into the cloth gag. She tried to sit up, but her head rung with such a sharp peal of a headache that it forced her back to the floor of the cage. It was just a struggle to breathe.

"You see, Elsa, I _need_ you," Hans explained, pacing the deck in those knee-high, beetle-black boots of his. "And I get what I want. So you'll need to come with me. And first we'll need to escape this little harbor of yours, won't we?"

Her chin quivered with fright and pain. How dearly she wanted to destroy him.

In a flourish, Hans lit the fire of his hands and held the flames close, casting an eerie glow across his handsome face. "In the morning, the citizens of Arendelle will send out a search party for their poor, unfortunate Queen," he mocked. "But how would they do that if their entire fleet of ships was _aflame_?"

Reeling back his arm, Hans conjured up a massive fireball as large as a cargo box and lobbed it in the direction of all the other ships docked in the fjord. Instantly, the huge sails caught flame, lighting up all the ships in the harbor in a blaze of gold. Burning masts fell onto ships next to them, creating a domino effect of flame. Soon all the ships of Arendelle except for Hans' were blazing in the inferno he had created.

Elsa screamed desperately through her gag, pressing her face against the bars of the cage. Hans was burning all the bridges…quite literally. And all those ships meant missing trade and communications for Arendelle. An open port would be useless if they had no ships. Oh, how the people would suffer!

"And if all their ships are on fire, what will the citizens care for a measly little ship that slipped out of the harbor?" Hans chuckled, lugging the anchor on deck with brute strength and cutting the ropes that bound the sails. Instantly, the hot air from the inferno caught the sails and puffed them up like clouds, sending their ship scudding out into the fjord.

The Ice Queen felt a surge of anger grow inside of her and forgot her manacles, meaning to blast Hans with all her power. Pain stabbed her up the arms and to her heart, making her moan with suffering against her gag. She was a mess, hair undone, in her nightgown and nightrobe. No power flowed through her as long as Hans had the key to her manacles.

Wind whipped Hans' ginger hair as he took the steering wheel. "Now you know a taste of what I have felt, Your Majesty," he called into the night. "Enjoy your stay! You might as well make yourself more comfortable. Oh, and one more thing…"

Flaring up flame in his free hand, Hans seemed to work magic over her manacles, and they burned like hellfire into her flesh. Squirming and struggling against her burning bonds, Elsa wailed and threw her head back in the fight, slamming it hard against the bars. This dazed the Queen, and as the fire in her manacles subsided, she slumped forward, weak and limp as a ragdoll. This was too much. She fell into a darker, more complete sleep.

Looking back, Hans could only laugh. "I apologize, Your Highness," he spoke to her unconscious form. The night horizon spread out before him, stars speckling the blackness and spelling freedom in the skies. "Nothing _personal_."


End file.
